In 2019, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research embarked on a mission to enact first-ever legislation that would create a comprehensive national plan aimed at curing Parkinson's Disease, a debilitating condition affecting millions of Americans and their families. To realize this vision, the Foundation engaged Reingold's expertise with a small and limited budget to work towards passing the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Disease Act in both houses of Congress.
Reingold was creative and strategic with the limited budget to help the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research reach its goals. The tactics Reingold implemented consisted of strategic congressional office outreach, recruiting and training advocates, post-meeting strategic communications, email sends, developing and launching a petition drive, optimizing an action center website, and facilitating local community story drives.
Overall, Reingold utilized these grassroots advocacy tactics to train and expand the network of advocates affiliated with the Foundation, engaging patients, families, caregivers, and medical professionals in congressional meetings and advocacy efforts.
One of the main challenges Reingold faced was the budget they were given to encompass all the strategic planning, implementation, and follow-up needed to successfully advance the legislation. An additional challenge Reingold faced was promoting the legislation in both the 117th and 118th Congress, needing to essentially restart or repeat mobilization efforts in the new Congress. Another challenge was the inherent party polarization of Congress and its associated difficulties of getting legislation passed with bipartisan support.
MJFF and Reingold reached their goal of getting the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act, the first-ever federal legislation dedicated to ending Parkinson’s disease, passed. In December 2023, the bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives, and in May 2024, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the legislation, and the bill was sent to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
The success of getting a bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in such a polarized Congress is largely due to the utilization of grassroots lobbying efforts. By having over 900 advocates in districts across the country share their personal stories with the offices of their members of Congress, the Foundation was able to underscore the necessity of this legislation to be passed.
Over almost the last two years, the statistics speak to the large efforts of our partnership together to achieve staggering results:
